Ashley Willows was shot in the chest and abdomen early Sunday morning while in her bedroom at 305 East High St. in Manchester. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)

Manchester woman says she was shot in money dispute

By PAT GROSSMITHNew Hampshire Union Leader

MANCHESTER — A 29-year-old woman was shot in the chest and hip early Sunday morning while inside her East High Street apartment.

Ashley Willows, who lives in a lower-level apartment at the address, said the shooter is a man who owes her money.

"It's not a drug war. It's not gang-related," she said, after pulling aside her T-shirt to show a bullet mark on her upper right chest.

Willows said the shooting was about a dispute between a white woman and a black man.

She said she embarrassed the man over the debt he owes her and he showed up Sunday morning and shot her.

An upstairs neighbor said Willows had tattooed the man and he hadn't paid her for the work.

The neighbor, who declined to give her name, said five shots were fired at the building, which has four apartments in it. She asked a reporter to leave the property.

Willows was not identified nor was her address listed in a police news release issued Monday morning about the shooting, which took place just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Police said the injured woman told investigators she was inside her apartment when she "was drawn" to her window. Almost immediately, she heard "multiple gunshots" and was struck.

Police said neither of the bullets penetrated her skin, but the strikes were strong enough to knock her off her feet. She was taken to an area hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries to her chest and hip.

No other information about the shooting will be released until the investigation is complete and a suspect named, according to investigators.